Running With Quills: EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT JAYNE

Welcome to Running With Quills, your online newsletter designed to keep you up to date with what your favorite authors (that would be us) are doing throughout the year. Here you will find the release dates of our new books and get information about our backlists. We'll preview our cover art here long before the books hit the stores and we'll keep you informed about works-in-progress and special projects. You'll also receive advance notice of signings and appearances. From time to time we'll give you a peek at our worlds, tell you what we're reading, and introduce you to some new authors.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT JAYNE

Okay, my turn first to answer your questions. This is going to be a long blog because there were a LOT of questions, so let's get right down to it:

PIA and LIZELLE both wanted to know which Quill title I would like to see made into a film and who I think should star in it.

ANSWER: Here's the thing: I consider books and films to be two very different mediums with very different conventions. Great books rarely make great films and great films certainly don't make great books. So, long story short, I can't come up with a good answer to this question.

KATE wanted to know if most romance novelists marry their ideals.

ANSWER: I can't speak for other authors but I know I sure got lucky in the husband department!

KARENDE wanted to know how to find an agent.

ANSWER: My suggestion is to join Romance Writers of America. It is the best source of inside information on all aspects of publishing that I know. You can find the organization online at www.rwanational.org

RANURGIS wanted to know if there were others in my family who were creative types.

ANSWER: Yes. In fact, I think everyone in my family is creative in one way or another, but, then, I may be biased. I am the only writer in the bunch, however, and the only one who does her creative thing professionally.

DEE from AUSTRALIA wanted to know if I felt I had grown as an author.

ANSWER: Don't know that I've grown, but I've certainly changed. Authors are like sharks: If we don't keep moving we get real bored -- and boring.

MARCIE wanted to know if my non-writing friends understand my frustrations or joys when I talk about my stories.

ANSWER: I never talk about my stories to my non-writing friends. There is nothing more boring than having to listen to an author talk about her writing.

MICHELLE wanted to know how I keep myself from doing too much research.

ANSWER: You're right, Michelle, research can, indeed, become a form of procrastination. The secret is to do enough to get some plot ideas and then start writing. Once you start you'll find out what else you need to know. I research as I write.

DFENDER wanted to know the three people I'd most love to have to a dinner party.

ANSWER: Actually, there are five I'd like to invite: My sister Quills.

DARLA wanted to know if there was one thing I could change in my writing career what would it be and why?

ANSWER: I would not have hired the lousy agent who convinced me to sign away my birth name (Jayne Castle) for ten years. By the time I got the name back, I had fired up my "Krentz" and "Quick" careers. I now use "Castle" for my futuristic/paranormals.

BRANDY wanted to know if there is a book I wish I hadn't written.

ANSWER: Sure. But here's the deal: Writing is a self-taught profession. The only way to learn your craft is to write. I've learned from every book I've written so, even though I'd just as soon that some of my early titles never saw the light of print again, they were what got me where I am today. Therefore, I guess I can't entirely regret them.

KAREN wanted to know what my dream job would have been if I hadn't become a writer.

ANSWER: I have no idea but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't go back to waiting tables if I could avoid it.

SUSAN B wanted to know if I reread my own books.

ANSWER: Nope. Never. When I'm working on a series such as my Arcane Society books I'll occasionally check facts or names of characters I've used in previous books, but that's it.

MS. OWEN & MS. KINDER wanted to know if turning my art into my job in any way distracted from the joy that I take in the writing and have I ever felt that I had to do less than my best to meet a deadline.

ANSWER: No to both questions. I love my work and I would never turn in a manuscript that did not feel "right" to me.

TAMMY wanted to know if there was anything I'd like to change in one of my older books.

ANSWER: I'm sure that if I ever reread my old titles I would find plenty to change but since I never reread them I'm saved from that misery.

CBELL wanted to know the top ten romance novels I would take to the beach.

ANSWER: Unfortunately, that's a moving target because I'm always looking for new titles, especially by my sister Quills.

EVERSCOI wanted to know what comes first, characters or plot?

ANSWER: For me, they come together. Ideas for one inspire ideas for the other. It's hard to explain. Creativity is a very chaotic process.

KATHY H wanted to know how we find time to read other authors' books and if we each have a favorite.

ANSWER: Can't speak for the other Quills but reading is as necessary to me as eating and breathing so somehow I find the time. No one particular favorite, though. I'm always looking for the next good read.

KATHY H also noted that, since I write under three names, how do I decide which book to write next?

ANSWER: That decision is driven by my contract and publishing schedules.

REBECCA wanted to know how to make a green ghost martini and also how I keep my rear in the chair so that I can write.

ANSWER: The green ghost martini recipe is, I'm afraid, a classified Quill secret. As for how I keep myself at the computer, well, deadlines have a way of enforcing a certain degree of discipline on the writing process. If I don't turn in the book, I don't get paid. Amazingly, simple things like that really work with me.

MEC wanted to know which of my books I would recommend to someone who had never tried any of my titles.

ANSWER: The latest titles which just happen to be THE RIVER KNOWS (under my Amanda Quick name) and WHITE LIES (under my Jayne Ann Krentz name)

JULES BENNETT wanted to know if I work on more than one project at a time.

ANSWER: No. That way lies madness.

SIAN wanted to know if there is a novel by another author that I wish I had written.

ANSWER: No. I admire other writers but the only stories I want to tell are the ones that are in my head.

SHOSHANA asked about organizing research.

ANSWER: For me research is an ongoing process. It starts before I sit down to write Chapter One and it continues until I finish the last chapter.

ANONYMOUS asked how many people who read my books would recognize me on the street.

ANSWER: Thankfully, no one would recognize me from my author photo which is a fine example of the fine art of makeup, lighting and digital enhancement. Trust me, I don't look anything like that in person. I can't imagine anything more dreadful than to be recognized by absolute strangers. Aaargh. I treasure my privacy.

AGTIGRESS wanted to know if the so-called "business side" of writing -- dealing with agents, contracts, conferences, blogs, reviews, etc. -- provides balance and counterpart to the intense concentration of actually writing, or just a distracting pain in the neck.

ANSWER: Hmm. I hadn't given the matter much thought but now that you mention it, although I moan and groan about a lot of the stuff that goes with the profession of writing, some of those activities do, indeed, provide balance and context. We live in the real world after all. Occasionally it is a good thing to be reminded of that fact. Just between you and me, though, I could do without the dipsquat reviews.

JOY noted that I had written a lot of books and wondered how hard it was to recall the content of a particular title.

ANSWER: Sadly, I'm doing good if I can remember the title, let alone the plot or the names of the characters.

I think that's all. Great batch of questions. Thanks!

Sincerely,
Jayne

36 Comments:

Ranurgis said...: Thanks, Jayne, for so patiently answering all our questions. I hope we didn't hold you up too long from writing your next book, whatever it is.

Or may I ask what you're working on next? If not, just ignore the question.; 9:58 PM
DFender said...: Wow, Jayne, that was ambitious! LOL. Great job! Thanks for taking the time to answer :-)

Deb; 3:28 AM
Jayne Ann Krentz said...: Ranurgis: Thanks for asking! I'm working on another Jayne Castle title. By the way the next new Castle will be out at the end of August. The title is SILVER MASTER and it features another heroic dust bunny name Araminta.

dfender: My pleasure!

--Jayne; 6:23 AM
Darla said...: Jayne,
Thank you very much for all the candid answers. It dosen't matter what name you write under I will always pick up your books...never boring.

Are we going to learn more about the alians in your paranormal series Silver Master?; 8:24 AM
Brandy said...: Thank you for taking the time to answer all our questions. AND, I am a fan no matter what name you write under (my favorites are your Jayne Castle books, though! *G*).; 10:57 AM
karende said...: Thank you! RWA doesn’t do me much good, since I read romance voraciously but it’s not what I write. The idea is wonderful, though. I now have a substantial list of other writer’s organizations to check. Back when I first started looking at them, it was all done by snailmail, and they all seemed to require that a person be a published writer. It looks like that has changed substantially.

karibear; 11:04 AM
Anonymous said...: Jayne,

Thank you so much for answering all out questions. Appreciate this sneak look into your life as a writer.

Mahalo,
Kathy H; 11:32 AM
Kim said...: Thanks for answering everyone's questions. I was surprised to read that you never re-read any of your earlier books. I've re-read several of your books when I haven't felt like looking for something new.

Like everyone else, I love any book you write whichever name you write it under!

Kim; 12:06 PM
Anonymous said...: As Kim just said what stood out for me was the fact that you don't re-read your matterial.. when I've re-read your books...hmmm dozens of times. I guess it's like people that don't re-read books right.. I often get comments about my home library - why keep so many books after you've read it once - well you know the story. right? Of course you do - but that's what's fun about re-reading a book, especially a book you loved, it's like visiting an old friend. Two of your books I've read a dozen times are deception and mistress oh yeah and trust me or... well I could go on... but it's the same for most authors I read.. If I like the book, chances are a year down the road I'm going to be sitting down thinking of a perticular plot and I'll pick up the book in question. Or, when you do series, I'll re-read the previous books, before I sit down to the new one, if it's been a while since I've read them.
Anyway - love your work.
Marie-Sol; 1:00 PM
Jayne Ann Krentz said...: Thanks, all, for the great questions! Regarding the re-reading issue. I think it's different when you talk about re-reading your own book as opposed to re-reading someone else's. I have re-read other people's books. It is just my own that I can't re-read. That's because I would far rather think up a new story.

--Jayne; 1:25 PM
Elizabeth Guest said...: LOLOLOLOLOL I'm laughing about the "reread" discussion because I, too, NEVER reread my own books. That would be agony. (Unless I was specifically refreshing my memory about a particular plot point while working on another book in the series.)

I do reread my favorites, like the LOTR four times, and many of the books by my fellow Quills. That's sheer joy.

Must be the difference between me as a writer and me as a reader. :-)

Happy Monday!
EG; 1:26 PM
AgTigress said...: About re-reading: if I wrote fiction, I don't know whether I would re-read my own work, but with the things I publish, I often have to not only re-read, but actually to cite my own publications in footnotes. That is a fairly weird, incestuous sensation: one finds oneself thinking, 'hang on - how can I be sure that that's right? I wrote it myself!'
:-D; 1:39 PM
Stella said...: Whoa, I'm impressed. Jayne, what a fantastic job of answering so many questions, and they are great questions.

I, too, do not reread my books once they're in print.

Cheers, Stella; 2:17 PM
Jayne Ann Krentz said...: AGTIGRESS: Love that hilarious insight into the strangeness of citing one's own work in a book you're writing!; 2:37 PM
DFender said...: ROFL @ agtigress...
Deb; 3:10 PM
AgTigress said...: :-D

The odd thing is, if one is referring back to a publication that one wrote 20-25 years ago, for example, it really is neutral/unfamiliar at first, like citing somebody else's work, until one remembers.

Jayne and Stella - if you DID re-read your older novels, you would probably say, 'Hey, great story! I enjoyed that. Oh, wait a moment - I wrote it!'

We are all different people from who we were even 20 years ago, and published work is one of the ways to observe that phenomenon.

:-D; 3:43 PM
Chris H said...: Love the comment re:citing yourself.

I'll go you one better: I had a prof who used to refer to what he wrote as "Smith says...." I could never determine if it was academic protocol or arrogance or being coy. I wanted to say "WAIT...aren't YOU Smith?" I can understand referring to third person in written work cited, but -- heck -- we were sitting in a classroom!!!; 5:35 PM
karende said...: I must admit I don’t at all care for anything written in the third person, but that just might be because that’s the way my ex wrote [still writes] his how-to stuff. I was the proofreader, and once - just once - he asked my opinion, and silly me, I thought he meant it. He didn’t - or at least he did, but only if my opinion was that he did a wonderful job.

As for citing oneself, I don’t see anything weird about it. Think of all the narrow scientific specialties once one gets into the rarified heights. If a person can’t cite their own earlier studies, etc, where would they get the information they need to continue in their fields?

karibear; 6:39 PM
Shoshana said...: Wow, that was a huge task to undertake, thank you for answering all our questions!
I'm glad rereading is a personal choice, though; I'd hate to miss the things I find rereading all the Quills' works! Would you believe it wasn't until the fifth rereading of Desire that it hit me the heroine was deflowered in a bin of flowers? Lol, that's one of my favourite jokes in the book, now. Along with the chicken blood and her husband list and the discovery of her new mother-in-law and blowing up the laboratory, etc, etc, etc...
Ms Krentz, if your earlier paranormal works under the Krentz name ever get republished, will they come out as Castle books 'written as Krentz' like the Stephanie James ones are now, or will they stay Krentz titles?
(I enjoy them all, too, can you tell?); 7:16 PM
Ranurgis said...: Jayne, thanks for answering my question. Since I assume that the Castle book will be a paperback, I don't have to worry about getting it from the library. To my great shame, I must admit that I still haven't read "Ghost Hunter".

In normal times, I read those as soon as I get them. However, my life since Aug. 2005 has been anything but normal but the most stressful that I can remember. But I'll definitely read it before the next one arrives. Thanks for the info.

I, too, have to say that I enjoy the books written 20 or 30 years ago just as much as the new ones. I guess it's easy for me to adjust to that because I actually remember the times when we had no cell phones, no computers, etc. And the style and content of books was different as well. Since I've always read a lot of books years after they were written, it just doesn't matter to me that much. All the guys like Shellaberger, Costain, Yerby, Slaughter are still fun to read--for me at least.; 8:31 PM
Pia said...: Jayne,
Thank you for responding to all the questions.I look forward to your upcoming book by Jayne Castle .
This morning I had the opportunity to get a hold of Sweet Starfire, I will read it tomorrow.
Pia; 11:39 PM
AgTigress said...: The avoidance of overt first-person opinions in academic writing was absolutely standard until about 40 years ago - indeed, it was actually required. If one wrote, 'I believe this theory to be the most persuasive one', it was unacceptable: one had to write something like, 'this theory would appear to be the most persuasive one', to give the work the spurious appearance of detached objectivity. I think it is taking it rather far to refer to oneself in the third person in speech, though.

In fact, it was the influence of feminist perspectives in academia that brought about the major change whereby one may now write 'I believe this to be so' in formal, scholarly discourse. This is one of the lesser-known positive changes brought about female academics, and now accepted by male ones as well.

Karibear - no, of course it is often necessary to cite one's own work when one's research is within a very specialised field; the need to do so is not 'weird', but it feels slightly uncomfortable, whether that is rational or not. The purpose of references is very often to adduce support for one's own views or interpretations, so one is really saying, 'I, AgTigress, believe this, and look, I am supported by that well-known authority, AgTigress 1995, pp.34-8'. Well, yes.

:-D; 4:17 AM
Tammy said...: Thanks Jayne for answering, lol, now i thought of a new one for another quill.; 5:29 AM
karende said...: AgTigress:

Of course academic/scientific works should be 3rd person - how else would JQP, Average Layman, know how important those works were otherwise? [Just joking, I've read more than my share of rough drafts of theses for people wanting their grammar and spelling checked.]

The things I was referring to when I mentioned my ex were popular how-to articles and books, everything and anything from the easiest way to sharpen a chainsaw to building one's own house or boat. It seemed sort of ridiculous, considering that he illustrated them with pictures of himself doing it all, step by step. But it really irked me when he'd take one of MY recipes, rewrite it, and sell it as his own, because "he'd fixed it."

karibear; 9:59 AM
Pia said...: Hi again Jayne,

I started reading Sweet Starfire and saw that the copyright was 1986. Wow! It was just recently that the paranormal romance genre caught my attention. I say wow again, you were one of the few who started writing it 20 years ago (I guess you were in your teens when you began writing). :D

Pia; 12:21 PM
Jayne Ann Krentz said...: Pia: Those early futuristic/paranormals nearly killed my career! There was no market for them at the time. Never pays to be too far ahead of the curve. That was why I stopped writing them and went off to invent Amanda Quick.

--Jayne; 12:25 PM
susan andersen said...: I discovered Jayne in her --hope I have this right--Stephanie James? incarnation. Can't remember which of the catagory publishers it was (Silhouette?) as it was during that mid-80s height when there were so many. But I do know it knocked my socks off.

What was the first book he rest of you read of Jayne's?

~Susan; 1:36 PM
AgTigress said...: But Sweet Starfire, Crystal Flame and Shield's Lady still knock spots off most of the 'paranormals' that are being churned out by the lorry-load today!
:-D; 1:37 PM
Pia said...: I totally agree with you agtigress.

Jayne, you know the first hirstorical romance novel I actually enjoyed reading was by Amanda Quick.

The first novel that got me "hooked" on Jayne's books was Absolutely Possitively.

Jayne, I love reading your books in under name you write on.

Pia; 2:03 PM
AgTigress said...: I think the first book of Jayne's that I read was Serpent in Paradise (as Stephanie James), when it was published in 1983. I am still very fond of that one. Uneasy Alliance must have been the first I read as Jayne Ann Krentz, in 1984 - which I think was the year in which the Harlequin 'Temptation' line first became available in the UK.

So, I have been reading your books for 24 years, Jayne! What an amazing thought!

:-); 2:23 PM
Jayne Ann Krentz said...: SUSAN: Boy, howdy, we both go all the way back to Stephanie James huh? Eeek. That would be PC (Pre Cell phones). How time flies. See you at RWA, I trust?

AGTIGRESS: Many thanks for the kind words on those early paranormals. Actually, it was doing them that made me realize I would enjoy writing the historicals. As I've said many times, there are a lot of parallels and similarities between historicals and paranormals when it comes to world building and the structure of the relationships between the sexes.

--Jayne

--Jayne; 2:26 PM
karende said...: I think the earliest JAK novels I read were the Amanda Quick ones, but since I interspersed them with the Krentz contemporaries and everything else I could get my hands on, and re-read every single one I liked ad nauseum, I have no idea which came first. In fact, the only author or title of any of them that I remember, other than Georgette Heyer, was one by Joan Smith called Aunt Sophie's Diamonds, which I thought was hysterically funny. All the rest - I remember the plots, a few of the character's names, but the titles and names of the authors are lost in the darkest wilds of my little brain. All I know is that there are some writers I will always pick up a book by, and that includes all the Quills, under whatever names they use.

karibear; 4:06 PM
Anonymous said...: I think I have been reading Jayne's books under various names for far too long to actually remember which one was first. I have most of the titles in paperback (somehow I lost I Thee Wed). I loved the early futuristics, and still have no idea why they didn't do well. I wanted more. I was so thrilled when the Jayne Castle books came out I actually e-mailed an author to thank her! Yes, my first actual author e-mail was to Jayne.

K.L.; 4:16 PM
Shoshana said...: I'm a johnny-come-lately; my mom handed me 'Deep Waters' under the Krentz name and my grandmother handed me 'Mistress' under the Quick, and it wasn't until a year or two later that I figured out they were both from the same pen -er, Quill. I'm the one who found the Castle series to hand the two of them, though: Hurray, friendly bookstore owners who know their authors! (Thank you, Sheila!); 8:12 PM
Lizelle said...: Hi, I picked up Sweet Starfire from a Second hand bookshop on Saterday! I also went looking for Desire in my bookshelve, for suddenly I want to re-read it again. Unfortunately someone must have borrowed it. Someone being my mom. About the books into moives, I once saw this poster in a bookshop that said: Don't let a movie spoil a good book. Something that always stayed by me. I think my first Jayne booke was Trust Me. Than I started to buy them up. But it was only four years ago that I discovered Amanda Quick, and the first one I only bought because I read at the back of the book that it is Jayne. Needless to say, after reading the first one, I could not wait to go shopping for more. Stephanie James I discovered about a year and a half ago, and now I own quite a couple.
Thanks for awnsering all our questions Jayne and for writting all of thoise great books. It is allways a treat reading them.; 10:45 AM
Lizelle said...: Hi, I picked up Sweet Starfire from a Second hand bookshop on Saterday! I also went looking for Desire in my bookshelve, for suddenly I want to re-read it again. Unfortunately someone must have borrowed it. Someone being my mom. About the books into moives, I once saw this poster in a bookshop that said: Don't let a movie spoil a good book. Something that always stayed by me. I think my first Jayne booke was Trust Me. Than I started to buy them up. But it was only four years ago that I discovered Amanda Quick, and the first one I only bought because I read at the back of the book that it is Jayne. Needless to say, after reading the first one, I could not wait to go shopping for more. Stephanie James I discovered about a year and a half ago, and now I own quite a couple.
Thanks for awnsering all our questions Jayne and for writting all of thoise great books. It is allways a treat reading them.; 10:46 AM

Previous Posts

Sunday, June 24, 2007

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT JAYNE

36 Comments: